Get the Story to Media

How to get news outlets to cover your campaign

Getting media attention for your campaign can make your decision maker sit up and
take notice. It can legitimise your campaign in the eyes of your decision maker,
and help you reach supporters you couldn't otherwise. Read on for a step-by-step
guide to attracting media coverage.

Determine if media will help your campaign
Media coverage can provide a huge boost to your campaign, especially when
your decision maker's public image is at stake. But there are times when press
coverage can actually do more harm than good.

Before you put the BBC, Al Jazeera or Anderson Cooper on speed-dial, determine
whether conducting press outreach is a smart strategy for your campaign.

Craft your 30-second message

The average online reader spends 3 minutes per visit at an online
news site -- skimming hundreds of headlines as she makes her way down the page.
Before you reach out to media, ask yourself how you can explain your campaign
in 30 seconds or less.

Try talking about your petition with a
friend. Ask him afterward what caught his interest, and use that feedback
to determine which details to include in your 30-second message. You can also
use this checklist:

Use exciting, energetic verbs.
"I launched my campaign" is more powerful than "I started my campaign."

Use specific details.
"I’m a young woman" is much less compelling than "I’m a 22-year-old part-time
nanny living in Washington, D.C."

Keep it short.
Remove any words that lengthen your message without adding to the story.

From Good to Better: 30-Second Messages

GOOD:

"I'm angry with my local school board for not approving a playground
at the new elementary school. There are many children who need a
place to play. The school board keeps promising to build one, but
they go back on their word. So I started a petition on Change.org
for a new playground."

BETTER:

"I'm a mother in Dubuque, Iowa, leading a Change.org campaign for
a new playground at Abraham Lincoln Elementary School. Fifty
parents have signed, and we're presenting the petition to the
school board on Tuesday."

Figure out what makes your campaign newsworthy

A bake sale, a crime spree, a presidential election -- depending on the
story, the angle and the media outlet, all of these can be news stories,
depending on several key factors like timing, location and who's participating.
Before asking a reporter to write or talk about your campaign, consider the
factors outlined below:

Timing.

What are the dates or deadlines of your campaign? Why is it important for
people to know about it today, and not next week or next year?

Impact.

How many people will be affected by your campaign? Use numbers to quantify
the impact of your campaign.

Location.

The majority of print and broadcast media outlets are centered around a
geographic area. A reporter in Denver, Colorado will almost never be
interested in a campaign centered around a city in Kansas. Target
reporters who are close to your area.

Is there a compelling personal story behind your campaign? Reporters love
stories about human relationships and universal stories about love, loss,
and family. This tends to be the main factor that attracts reporters to
stories about Change.org campaigns.

EXAMPLE: Tying A Campaign To The News Cycle

A coalition of groups working to improve labor conditions at The
Hershey Coalition wouldn't normally be front page news. But in
October 2011, customers supporting the
petition captured the interest of reporters by staging a
Halloween-themed event. Tying the campaign -- which didn't have a
deadline -- to the news cycle paid off in
media coverage in Hershey's home state.

Determine how to tell your story through pictures, video and sound.

One way to improve the possibility of news coverage is by including a graphic
element -- photos, video and audio. Are you staging an event where cameras
could pick up scenes? Colorful art? An interesting interview? Documents that
back up your case? YouTube videos? Compile these visual elements and have
them available to include in your pitch. Make sure your YouTube video links
back to your petition
(find out how to embed a link here).

Collect proof to verify your story to the press

Detective movies call a credible witness or piece of evidence the "smoking gun."
If a reporter needs more proof of the facts behind your campaign, what will
you tell him or her?

Prepare your collection of proof advance. It could include documents, copies of
emails, contact information of credible individuals willing to speak to the press,
research and documentation from a different source, or video records.

Step 2: Pitch your story

Your next step is to sell your story to journalists. Time spent determining
the best reporters to contact and drafting a strong email pitch will pay off
in the end.

Find out who has covered your campaign already

Before you begin contacting reporters, get the lay of the land by
searching Google news for your campaign and the larger subject area.
Has anyone from your geographic area already written about this issue or
about related subjects? Write down the reporters’ names.

Write and send your pitch

Draft a personal email to each reporter with the basics of your campaign –
who, what, where, why – and include your contact information. (You can
recycle the same email for each reporter; just swap out their names.)
This is where the 30-second message you developed earlier will come
in handy!

Emailing Reporters: Sample Pitch

Hi Jonathan,

I read your story on Springfield workers losing their jobs.
I’m one of those workers, and I’ve launched an online campaign
on Change.org to save my job that’s already got 800 supporters.

I work at Burger Shack, where I was told by my boss to leave
work early 3 times last month to save on payroll expenses.
But last week, my boss fired me for “repeatedly leaving work
before closing time” – a thinly veiled attempt to fire me and
get out of paying unemployment benefits even though I did
nothing wrong.

Now I’m in danger of losing my job – but I’ve gathered 800
petition signatures to Burger Shack from people around
Springfield who support me. And after seeing my campaign take
off, two of my coworkers have come forward and said they’ve
faced similar treatment from our manager. We’re not asking
for any special treatment, just a fair break.

I think my campaign could be a great follow-up story that
puts a personal face on the issue of job loss in Springfield.
Let me know if you’d like to set up an interview or need more
information.

Follow up with a phone call

After you send your email, wait a few hours and then call to make sure
the reporter received your message. Be polite, professional, and
confident. Remember, reporters are busy and may not have time to
talk long, so practice with a friend beforehand to condense your
point into a few seconds.

Your tone should be casual and positive, almost like you’re calling a
friend. Reporters are often turned off by hyper-positive PR people,
and they don’t like overly intense activists who try to fit 55 words
in a sentence. Just speak normally, like your friend works in the media
and you’re trying to convince them to cover something.

Remember that most reporters only cover one story per day, so keep your
expectations low. In the world of media outreach, success often looks
like getting one reporter to cover your campaign, even if twenty other
reporters turn you down immediately.

Here’s a sample phone pitch:

Calling Reporters: Sample Pitch

Hi Jonathan, my name is Samantha Jones, and I’m calling to
follow up on an email I sent this morning about workers getting
fired in Springfield. Do you have a minute?

If no: Okay, thanks for your time. Goodbye.

If yes: Great! Well, since you’ve covered
this issue already, I sent you an email this morning about
an online campaign I launched on Change.org to save my job
at Burger Shack. My boss is trying to fire me to save money,
so I launched a campaign on Change.org to save my job, and
800 people have already signed – including two other Burger
Shack workers who say the same thing is happening to them,
too. I think my campaign could be a great follow-up story
for you, since it’s a personal look at job loss here in
Springfield.

(Pause and wait for response.) Is this something you’d be
interested in covering?

If no: All right. Thanks so much for your
time.

If yes: That’s great to hear. Can I send
you any additional info, or did you have any questions off
the bat?

Track media mentions of your campaign

Sometimes a reporter will email you back, but sometimes he’ll just
write a story based on the information you sent. Set up
Google alerts to monitor media
coverage of your campaign. (Just enter in the keywords you want to track,
and Google will email you any articles that mention those keywords.)

Talking to a reporter can be a little nerve-wracking. But if you
prepare as much as possible ahead of time, you will give an excellent
interview to help your campaign.

If the reporter wants a phone interview, always ask if you can call him
back in 15 minutes. This will give you time to prepare. If it’s a TV or
radio interview scheduled for later in the day, take advantage of the
extra time and practice, practice, practice.

Write three talking points

Start by creating what media professionals call a “messaging triangle,” or the three main points you hope to make during your interview. Then draw up a list of potential questions the reporter might ask you, and practice responding to them with one of your three points.

Remember: the best interviewees don’t simply answer the questions a
reporter asks. They transition back to their main points, ensuring
that they control the direction of the interview. Whenever possible,
return to your messaging triangle!

Own your expertise

Prepare a sentence explaining who you are and why your voice matters.
Even if you don’t have a fancy title or credential, you have something
very important to say. Not only are you aware of a problem, you're acting
to solve it.

Figure out what aspect of your identity gives you the most credibility.
Are you a mother of three campaigning to reform school policies? A retail
employee demanding your company headquarters change its hiring practices?
A bank customer calling for an end to unfair debit card fees? Your opinion
is just as valuable as the opinion of a school principal, corporate CEO,
or bank chairman. Let your real-world experience shine.

Mention your Change.org petition

If one person contacts the newspaper with a concern, a reporter can
easily dismiss it – but if you have 200 or 20,000 people behind you, it's
a different story. Be sure to feature your online campaign prominently in
your rehearsal script. Mentioning that your campaign is on Change.org will
also help you get more signatures -- people reading or watching the news
story will be able to log on to Change.org and search for your petition.

Practice with a friend

Reading or talking to yourself only goes so far, so don’t just practice
answering potential interview questions alone – recruit a friend to help
you out! If your interview will be on camera, use a smartphone, video
camera, or Skype, and ask for feedback on your performance.

Make sure your friend tries on different interviewer personalities,
from friendly to hostile, so you're prepared for anything come interview time.

Media coverage is great, but it’s just a means to an end: winning your
campaign! Here are a few ways to leverage your media coverage to take
your campaign to the next level.

Share the news with your supporters

Campaigning for change can be exhausting – and public recognition is a
great way to energize your supporters. Use the Change.org "Message Petition
Signers" function to send a link of the media coverage to your supporters,
and list it as an update on your petition wall.

Thank the media outlet

Forward the media coverage to your decision maker

If your decision maker has ignored you, now's a good chance to check
in with them again and remind them that ignoring you has a cost. Send a
polite email or voicemail with a link to the news coverage asking if
they've seen it.

Check In With Your Decision Maker: Sample Email

Hi Burger Shack,

I just wanted to check in and share some of the media coverage
of the “Don’t Fire Samantha” campaign so far. The Springfield
Times and Springfield Courier have all covered the ongoing
campaign; you can find links to articles here and here.

We'd really like to share a response from Burger Shack
headquarters with the growing number of Change.org members
who’ve signed this campaign. And if Burger Shack is interested
in working with me and my fellow employees to save our jobs
and prevent our manager from using unfair firing practices
in the future, we'd love to help Burger Shack issue a press
release about how responsive and supportive you’ve been.

Do you know when I might expect a response from Burger Shack?
We're looking to do a second round of press next Wednesday.